Ashraf AboArafe
The Sultanate of Oman, represented by the Ministry of Heritage and Tourism, participated in the world’s celebration of the World Heritage Day (WHD), which falls on the eighteenth of April of each year, under the slogan “Heritage changes”, and the Ministry pays great attention to protecting and preserving the Omani cultural heritage, world heritage sites, antiquities inhabited by water, studies and research for excavations, archaeological surveys and publications. Scientific work related to this, and interest in the contents of the literal heritage, its inventory, documentation, study, and publication of publications for that.
Engineer Ibrahim bin Saeed Al Kharousi, Undersecretary of the Ministry of Heritage and Tourism for Heritage, said that this year’s celebration comes under the slogan “Heritage Changes”, which is the title proposed by the International Council on Monuments and Sites to focus on the ability of heritage to withstand the effects of climate change and the efforts of countries to restore archaeological monuments affected by climatic factors.
He said that the interest of the Sultanate of Oman comes through a number of programs that include restoration and maintenance of heritage monuments and coordination annually with prestigious universities and specialized centers to carry out archaeological surveys and excavations for archaeological missions. The ministry also works in continuous coordination with the World Heritage Center to protect and sustain world heritage sites in the Sultanate of Oman.
Ibrahim bin Saeed Al Kharousi added that the Ministry registered 3,423 archaeological sites, while the number of historical and archaeological sites that were restored by the Ministry reached 310 in all governorates of the Sultanate of Oman until the end of 2022 to protect them from extinction to remain a witness to the Omani civilization throughout the ages, in addition to Registration of 5 Omani sites in the World Heritage List and 7 sites in the preliminary list, which are the sites that the Sultanate of Oman completes the justifications for inclusion on the World Heritage List.
The Undersecretary of the Ministry of Heritage and Tourism for Heritage stated that the 26 archaeological missions within the 2022/2023 season program revealed more about the nature of life in the Sultanate of Oman more than 10,000 years ago through the discovered antiquities that explore the depths of the Omani contribution to the march of human civilization since the dawn of history. He indicated that the Ministry is working on issuing, translating and publishing many books, studies and scholarly research papers written in both Arabic and English, periodically and annually, which deal with the areas of Omani cultural heritage.
The Undersecretary of the Ministry of Heritage and Tourism for Heritage said that the Sultanate of Oman is one of the leading countries in the region in implementing a scientific program for the study of underwater antiquities to take the initiative to work in the field of developing care for marine antiquities and managing and preserving underwater cultural heritage at the regional level, and the Ministry has developed this program to become a department concerned with Underwater antiquities to improve scientific and specialized research and cooperate with a number of agencies to secure the preservation of underwater archaeological finds and carry out surveys, excavations, restoration, preservation and documentation of underwater archaeological sites.
Ibrahim bin Saeed Al Kharousi explained that the ministry, within the framework of preserving the craft heritage, worked to document existing or near extinction craft industries to preserve them, in addition to a number of projects such as innovation in the Omani sarooj, a study of innovation in the leather industry, and innovation in industries related to green cotton in the Sultanate of Oman. . He pointed out that work has been done to develop architectural heritage sites and historical monuments, support museums and private heritage homes, and establish museum exhibition halls in castles and forts.
It is noteworthy that the Ministry of Heritage and Tourism has prepared a program to celebrate this occasion at the Bisya and Salut Visitor Center in the Wilayat of Bahla, with the participation of a number of schools in the Dakhiliyah Governorate. Heritage and Tourism for methods of restoration and maintenance of artifacts in excavation sites, the Ministry’s efforts in the field of documenting historical buildings and archaeological sites, as well as a presentation of research projects implemented by a number of schools in the field of heritage.
